If you’re looking for a way to develop, deliver, and track training for your employees, but are unsure about which learning management system (LMS) to go for, this Ruzuku review is for you.
Currently, the demand for good LMS has been steadily rising. In 2019, the global LMS market size was USD 8.76 billion and is predicted to reach USD 38.10 billion by 2027.
Because of this trend, you’ll find many articles online comparing the differences between one LMS and another, such as “Kajabi vs. Teachable” and “Thinkific vs. Podia”.
However, in this Ruzuku review, we’ll take a more in-depth look at what Ruzuku features. We’ll be looking into the platform’s pros and cons, whether or not Ruzuku pricing plans are worth the money, as well as providing you with Ruzuku alternatives.
After reading this Ruzuku review, you should have a clear idea of whether or not Ruzuku is the ideal learning management system for you.
What is Ruzuku?
Until recently, hearing the words “corporate training” often brought to mind images of a day-long workshop or a large conference. This is the traditional way of training.
However, online training is rapidly gaining popularity and is showing no signs of slowing down, especially since meeting online is now easier than meeting in person.
Image source: Ruzuku
Ruzuku, a learning management system established in 2012 by co-founders Abe Crystal and Rick Cecil, is a LMS that lets you design online courses, create content, and set the pricing for your potential students.
As a learning management system, Ruzuku’s objective is to help companies deliver quality online training so that learners from around the world can easily connect with instructors, whether in real-time or through pre-recorded sessions.
Through Ruzuku’s features, students can access online training material (courses, videos, guides, quizzes, etc.) any time they want.
Ruzuku review: Features and functions
In this Ruzuku review, we’ll take an in-depth look into the numerous Ruzuku features, functions, and selling points.
Image source: Ruzuku.com.
Unlike other online course platforms, Ruzuku doesn’t get a lot of attention. Still, the user-friendliness that Ruzuku offers makes it a serious contender to other Ruzuku alternatives such as LearnWorlds, Kajabi, Teachable, Thinkific, and Podia.
The simplicity of Ruzuku as an LMS platform also makes it an appealing option for newbie course creators with little to no technical experience.
So, what does Ruzuku have to offer? Here is a list of the main Ruzuku features in a nutshell:
1. User-friendly course creator
Ruzuku allows you to set up and configure various types of content for your online course.
Whether you want to create lists or quizzes or embed videos and images, Ruzuku’s learning platform editor allows you to do that with ease.
2. Flexible subscription system
Whether you prefer to pay for your subscription monthly or annually, the Ruzuku pricing plans are flexible enough to make both options possible.
Also, If you don’t want to be forced to commit to a year’s worth of subscription, choosing to make your payments on a monthly basis won’t lock you into the subscription.
3. Flexible course pricing framework
Ruzuku is compatible with both PayPal and Stripe making it possible for you to set the price of your online courses. You can even set multiple price tiers for the same course.
On top of that, there’s an option to create structured systems with multiple installment plans to make payments more convenient for your students.
4. Robust features for your students
Ruzuku extends its smart functionalities to your students to help them learn naturally and proceed seamlessly through their online courses.
It’s also a self-directed tool as students can unlock the next stage as they progress through the course.
5. Access to course analytics
Having access to course analytics makes it easy to track the progress of your students. You can see which activities they’ve completed, and more.
The data available through the course analytics lets you make more informed decisions when it comes to creating, tweaking, and refining your course plans.
6. Student engagement through teleconferences and webinars
Being able to host teleconferences and webinars allows for more student engagement. It also provides you with an avenue to connect with your students.
7. 14-day free trial
The 14-day trial is a great way to test all of Ruzuku’s features without having to commit to any payment plans.
It’s completely free and is the perfect incentive for anyone still on the fence about subscribing to the platform.
Ruzuku Pros
Ruzuku brings t-o-n-s of value to its users. Below are some ways the platform can bring online course creators to Revenue Wonderland.
1. Easy learning curve
While testing out the platform for this Ruzuku review, it quickly became apparent how its minimalistic and simple UI was one of its major draws.
If you’ve used any Content management systems before, such as Squarespace, WordPress, and Wix, you’ll find building a course on Ruzuku to be a piece of cake.
Image source: Edwize.org
Ruzuku’s user interface is set up in a way that even someone with little to no experience in creating courses and webinars can build an entire course relatively quickly.
Everything you need to build a course, such as the course builder, Ruzuku pricing setup, sales pages, and various notifications can easily be found and customized.
2. Easily add video content
Managing your video content on Ruzuku is easy and convenient because Ruzuku takes care of your video hosting.
Image source: Ruzuku.com
Similar to adding images, uploading a video to your course is remarkably easy.
Simply go to your course, select the course lesson to add your video to, and upload the video by following simple on-screen instructions.
Ruzuku also provides you with an option to embed videos from other online sources such as YouTube and Soundcloud. Simply embed the HTML code and you can add that video to your course.
3. Host and record webinars and teleconferences
Hosting and recording webinars and teleconferences is another one of Ruzuku’s excellent features. While gathering data for this Ruzuku review, I discovered that not many course platforms offer this feature.
With some Ruzuku alternatives, you have no choice but to pick another live streaming or webinar platform and deal with the hassle of having to manage multiple platforms. Ruzuku takes care of that problem for you.
You can also interact with your students live via Ruzuku’s webinar player. Another convenient feature is the ability to record your webinars and keep them in an archive so students who may have missed the lesson can view them at a later date.
4. Convenient and effective course scheduler
Ruzuku makes it easy for you to control when you want your course lessons to be released to your students via a course scheduler.
When adding a new course lesson, simply choose when you want that lesson to be available to your students.
Image source: Onlinecoursespecialist.com
5. Review student course progress
Student engagement is a big challenge that course creators often deal with. Email notifications are useful, but because everyone is constantly receiving emails, there’s a chance your reminders may go unnoticed.
With Ruzuku, you can track the progress your students are making via the dashboard. The dashboard allows you to monitor how your students are faring so you can engage with them accordingly.
Image source: Ruzuku.com.
6. Custom email announcements
Send emails to all your students easily by using the custom announcement feature. The editor allows you to customize the format of your emails.
This feature is especially useful If you have special announcements or have uploaded new course sections that you want your students to know about.
Image source: Ruzuku.com.
By default, Ruzuku creates an email to be sent to your students at the start of every course. You have the option to personalize this email before it’s sent to your students.
As an added bonus, because the email announcement feature is built-in, you won’t need to export your emails to other email marketing platforms.
7. Discounts and coupons
Ruzuku gives you the ability to create coupons and give discounts as a way to boost your sales. These coupons and discounts will give your course a better value proposition.
You’ll even have the option to set up a discount based on either the dollar amount or in percentages of the cost of your course. Limiting the number of coupons that can be redeemed and setting expiration dates for your coupons is also possible.
Image source: Onlinecoursespecialist.com
8. Backup your course content
You can put a great deal of time and effort into building and refining your course library by adding more information, such as files, lessons, recordings, and webinars.
Knowing that Ruzuku has a daily backup feature that prevents data loss will allow you to work on your course library with peace of mind.
The daily backup feature protects your work from unforeseen circumstances, such as a power outage or corrupted data. It’s conveniently set up as a default feature for all Ruzuku customers.
9. No transaction fees
Ruzuku won’t charge you any transaction fees whether you decide to sell your courses through single payments or to set up subscription plans for your students.
You are guaranteed to keep 100% of all your course sales. The only fees you will incur are direct with the payment gateways (Stripe and PayPal).
Be aware, however, that subscription and installment payments won’t be available to anyone using the Bootstrapper plan.
Ruzuku Cons
Now that we’ve covered the great things about Ruzuku, let’s check out some of Ruzuku’s downsides.
1. Pricing model
Ruzuku happens to be more expensive than many other Ruzuku alternatives in the LMS solutions market. Ruzuku alternatives, such as Teachable, LearnWorlds, and Podia all provide similar services at a lower price point.
The Bootstrapper, at $74.75 per month, is the most affordable subscription that Ruzuku has to offer.
While gathering data for this Ruzuku review, I was disappointed to find out that Bootstrapper, while not exactly cheap, does not include student engagement features, such as polls and quizzes, or subscription plans.
While the pricing model of Kajabi is similar to that of Ruzuku pricing, for the same price point, Kajabi just edges out Ruzuku when it comes to features for email campaigns and marketing.
To run a course marketing program at full scale using Ruzuku, you would need another email marketing software, such as ActiveCampaign or ConvertKit, and a landing page software such as HubSpot or Pipedrive.
The mounting cost of having to pay for additional software is more than a slight drawback that can potentially turn new course creators away from choosing Ruzuku.
2. Limited integrations
Nowadays, you’d be hard-pressed to find any digital business that uses just one software.
Most course creators and digital entrepreneurs use a myriad of tools, such as content management systems, email marketing, and customer relationship management software to maintain and grow their businesses
However, the insubstantial integrations are a significant limitation that could potentially discourage many course creators from choosing the platform over other Ruzuku alternatives.
As of writing this Ruzuku review, the only integration available is with MailChimp, which claims to be an all-in-one marketing platform.
To be fair, I haven’t experienced any significant problems with MailChimp, but more options would have been preferable.
You can circumvent the problems brought about by Ruzuku’s lack of integration by running two systems in parallel. The problem with this is that you’ll have to take the time to manually download the pertinent information from Ruzuku before uploading it to your email marketing platform of choice.
3. Barebones design customization features
Unlike other Ruzuku alternatives, such as Kajabi and LearnWorlds, there isn’t a CSS or HTML editor. This limits how much you’ll be able to customize your course website to match your branding guidelines. Your options for customizing individual course lessons will also be limited
You’ll be constrained to using only 14 color schemes, of which only 7 are optimized for mobile phones. The lack of customization features also extends to the options for typography which are limited to just five choices — professional, scholarly, friendly, Lato, or modern.
4. Limited enrollment page and sales page customizability
Through the course editor, you’ll be able to add, customize, and edit your sales page. Though options are available for you to add links, images, and edit text formats, you’ll have to do it through a manual process.
For tech-savvy individuals, editing the source code shouldn’t pose too much of a problem. However, If you are not tech-savvy, this can seriously limit your creativity.
On the other hand, Ruzuku’s competitors, such as LearnWorlds and Kajabi, allow you to use pre-made blocks and templates to build custom checkout pages, sales pages, and landing pages.
Another disadvantage to using Ruzuku is not being able to directly add social proof, such as badges and testimonials, to your sales pages.
5. Minimal marketing options
Although the quality of your content plays a big factor when it comes to attracting potential students, it’s still a problem if you’re not able to consistently market your courses.
6. Lack of content management system integration
Ruzuku’s features don’t allow you to build a fully-fledged website. This means that in order to host your blog content, you’ll first have to build a website using a content management system, such as HubSpot, Wix, or WordPress, and host it there.
Unfortunately, there is no direct integration between any content management systems and Ruzuku. This forces you to use two or more platforms that have to run independently of each other.
Alternatively, comprehensive course plugins, like LearnDash or AccessAlly, can easily be connected with your WordPress site.
It must be said, however, that other Ruzuku alternatives, such as Kajabi, LearnWorlds, and Podia, also have limited integration with WordPress.
7. Limited student engagement
Image source: Mirasee.com.
Besides quizzes and polls, there’s not much else that promotes student engagement on Ruzuku. And, disappointingly, those features aren’t even available for the Bootstrapper plan.
Strangely enough, considering Ruzuku markets itself as a learning management system, there seems to be no way to grade quizzes, create assignments for students, or even generate certificates for students who have completed the course.
After completing this Ruzuku review, it was clear that other LMS platforms, such as LearnWorlds or LearnDash, have more to offer when it comes to student engagement options.
Ruzuku integrations
Image source: Getapp.com.
When it comes to app and software integration, Ruzuku leaves a lot to be desired.
According to getapp.com, a website that buyers use to compare software as a service (SaaS) products, Ruzuku integrates with only 15% of the most popular apps.
The following are the apps that Ruzuku integrates with:
1. MailChimp
Mailchimp is an all-in-one marketing platform that helps you manage and talk to your clients, customers, and other interested parties.
2. PayPal
PayPal is an online payment platform that offers individuals and businesses low-cost services.
3. Stripe
Stripe’s products power payments for online and in-person retailers, subscription businesses, software platforms and marketplaces, and everything in between.
Ruzuku university
At the University subscription level, you’ll be able to include multiple schools to enhance your branding. A School includes a custom name, background image, banner, and logo for your School’s sign-in screen.
After creating a course, you can assign it to an existing school within the University by:
1. Clicking on the Settings link in the course editor.
2. Using the School drop-down link to select the School for your course.
3. Clicking Save.
Ruzuku alternatives worth trying
While Ruzuku does a decent job as an LMS, it doesn’t do everything as well as it should.
The following are Ruzuku alternatives worth trying:
Ruzuku help: Is Ruzuku’s customer support worth it
In contrast with its minimalistic features, Ruzuku seems to have a solid tech support framework.
Its knowledge base should really be commended for being as comprehensive as they come. Ruzuku has loaded it with all kinds of important information, free tutorials, and tech guides.
Should you need any help, you should easily be able to find information on just about anything. From questions about the basics of building courses to all the advanced system configurations, Ruzuku’s customer service is top-notch.
Image source: Ruzuku.com.
Ruzuku Pricing
The following is a breakdown of the features included within each of the price tiers:
1. Bootstrapper ($74.75/month)
- Single instructor
- Unlimited courses
- Unlimited students
- Unlimited video, audio, and data hosting
- 0% transaction fees
- Your customers pay you directly
- Accept payments via PayPal or Stripe
- Basic commerce with coupons
- Comprehensive support
2. Up-and-Comer ($83.08/month)
- Single instructor
- Unlimited courses
- Unlimited students
- Unlimited webinars
- Polls and quizzes
- Unlimited video, audio, and data hosting
- 0% transaction fees
- Your customers pay you directly
- Accept payments via PayPal or Stripe
- Basic commerce with coupons
- Subscriptions and payment plans
- Comprehensive support
3. University ($125.00/month)
- Your domain
- Multiple instructors
- Multiple Site Managers
- Unlimited courses
- Unlimited students
- Unlimited webinars
- Polls and quizzes
- Unlimited video, audio, and data hosting
- 0% transaction fees
- Your customers pay you directly
- Accept payments via PayPal or Stripe
- Basic commerce with coupons
- Subscriptions and payment plans
- Comprehensive support
- Dedicated Account Manager
Ruzuku FAQs
1. Are quizzes and tests available?
If you have an Up-and-Comer or University subscription, you can use our basic multiple choice quiz functionality.
If you have a Bootstrapper subscription, or if you would like to incorporate other types of quizzes in your course activities, you can create one using an outside tool and then embed it into your course.
2. Can I accept payments for my course directly through Ruzuku?
You can accept payment for your courses by integrating directly with a number of payment services. Currently, Ruzuku integrates with PayPal and Stripe.
With a PayPal or Stripe integration, you can create multiple price points and discount coupons for your courses.
3. Can I access my course from a mobile device?
Students can easily view course content from any mobile device with a recently updated web browser. Depending on the size of your mobile screen, your students may have to pinch or expand the screen to see the whole of your Ruzuku course.
4. Can I add a YouTube or Vimeo video to an activity?
Yes, you can! Use the embed function on the activity editor to embed YouTube, Vimeo, or other videos in your activity.
5. Can I change my course type after it has been published?
Once a course is published, it can’t be returned to its “draft” state.
You can, however, copy the course. The new copy will be in draft format and you can change the course type from there. You can then use the new, copied version of your course and delete the other course.
Remember that deleting a course is permanent, so be careful.
Ruzuku review verdict
Ruzuku offers many features that make it a decent choice for creative entrepreneurs, coaches, and artists to build, launch, and sell courses.
One of the most appealing features Ruzuku has is its capacity to be able to host and run both live and pre-recorded teleconferences and webinars.
The biggest difference between Ruzuku and other learning management systems is the lack of an extensive learning center and student engagement features.
Overall, Ruzuku is an excellent, but slightly flawed, online course platform with a few minor shortcomings here and there. It’s definitely a great option for newbie course creators or entrepreneurs who don’t feel the need for extensive designing requirements and appreciate a simple course interface.